Arbor Brewing Phat Abbot Belgian Dubbel | Arbor Brewing Company

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Phat Abbot is a thick dark brown with red hues. The light brown head is nicely creamy and fairly tight. It doesn't quite reach one finger, but comes close and holds itself pretty well. It remains as a strong foam that leaves solid creamy lacing after it.
Some candi sugars seem to be there in the aroma, but this doesn't quite have the sweetness most Dubbels seem to, either from those sugars or the nature of the yeast. What imparted instead is more of the earthy and spicy elements with lots of dark breads in the malts. A bit of clove and just a hint of bubble gun ease out as it warms.
The same goes for the flavor as to the overall nature. There's definitely some phenolic character on the tongue, and it tingles a bit. Lots of earth and breads hold it down for the spiciness, gentle but firm. Clove and pepper are assertive without biting too hard, and, while it takes some warming, some banana and maybe a ghost of dark fruits sneak out.
The body is medium, but the feel is missing some of the real richness and character that makes the great Belgians great. It has a little texture but not the full depth, though it's pleasantly crisp and smooth.

I picked up a bottle of Arbor Brewing Company's Phat Abbot Belgian Dubbel a couple weeks ago for $2.19 at The Lager Mill. I've never tried this beer before, but I have had the Phat Abbot Tripel and I thought it was a really nice Tripel and I'm interested to see how this one turns out, so lets see how it goes. No visible bottling date, but it just showed up so I think it's fairly fresh. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a my Belgian Goblet.

A- The label looks ok and it's pretty similar to the Tripel. It poured a very dark brown color that took on a slight ruby hue when held to the light with two fingers worth of tan head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left a little bit of patchy lacing lacing behind. This was a nice looking beer, but I don't think I have ever seen a Dubbel that was this dark.

S- The aroma starts off with a pretty high amount of sweetness that has a candied sugar like aroma followed by some yeast aromas up front that impart some banana, bubblegum, and spicy aromas with no single aspect sticking out the most. Up next comes some dark fruits with a nice cherry and raisin like aroma seeming to stick out the most and it's followed by some malts that impart a very sweet malt like aroma, this some toasted and caramel aromas coming through. Up next comes a noticeable sweet and ethanol like alcohol aroma with a sherry like aroma showing up also. The aroma was fairly complex, but it seemed pretty rough around the edges some with some sweetness and alcohol coming through a little too much. The aroma seems to be going the right direction for the style but the sweet and boozy aromas were a little overwhelming.

T- The taste seems to be a little similar to the aroma, but it's a good deal lighter and not as in your face as the aroma and it starts off with a pretty high amount of medium sweetness that bordered on being highly sweet and it had a Belgian candied sugar like flavor to it followed by a lighter amount of yeast that imparts a light banana and spicy flavor. Up next comes a nice dark fruit flavor with no single fruit seeming to show up the most and it's followed by some malts which impart a sweet, toasted, and caramel like flavors. On the finish there's pretty much no bitterness with a sweet and slight alcohol flavor that was just slightly warming with a sweet and dark fruit like aftertaste. This was a decent tasting Dubbel and it was better than the aroma but some of the flavors didn't blend together as well as they could have.

M- A little smooth, sweet, slightly boozy, slightly sticky, medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel was decent, but I think it could have been a little smoother.

Overall I thought this beer was just ok and I thought it was a fairly average example of the style, I started to loose hope for it when I got to the aroma, but once I got to the taste it wasn't as rough and it was more true to style, but i don't think all the flavors came together as well as they could have and it seemed like some of the aspects clashed a little. This beer had ok drinkability, it was a little smooth, a little sticky and not that filling, but the taste couldn't hold my attention for long and I think one is enough for me, I have no urge to drink another one in a row. What I liked the most about this beer was the appearance and taste, they weren't bad and they were the highlights of this beer. What I liked the least about this beer was the aroma, it was pretty rough around the edges and some of the bold aromas clashed with each other. I wouldn't buy this beer again, it's not overly priced, but I think i would rather pay more for a more true to style and smoother Dubbel. I wouldn't recommend this to my friends as a good Dubbel. All in all i wasn't impressed with this beer, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either, it was just kind of in the middle and I thought it had too many aspects that didn't blend together well which made this beer rough around the edges. Better luck next time guys, this one needs some work.